Men of History and of Few Words
by judikickshiney
Summary: Yamamoto was a Man of History, and Byakuya was very interesting, though he didn't say much.


_Ya. So I was thinking about Byakuya one day, and I was kinda thinking about Yamamoto and then this kinda popped up..._

_I was a bit disturbed._

_Diclaimer! I find myself incapable of thinking about Yamamoto and Tousen with out laughing. I could not have possibly written them serious enough to be Tite Kubo_

_AN/ for my newest soundboard and fanfiction buddy Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed, and because of Yamamoto's Bankai. Which, unfortunantly, I didn't get to mention._

Yamamoto was a man of history.

Actually, he was _literally_ a Man of History. His picture hung on every wall in every long corridor in Sereitai. A testament to his everlasting glory. He had a medal too, but that was hanging in his private rooms.

Byakuya had tried to escape the Soutaicho. He had tried to run from the endless pictures of the man, the endless stares. But one thing was certain, and that was that no-one could escape the Soutaicho. And Byakuya was no exception.

That piercing gaze hit him with every corner he took. Though he would never show it, it was beginning to make him nervous. Especially because he felt something disturbingly like a smile creep onto his face when he saw it.

Kuchiki's were not, as a rule, happy people. Smiles did not happen. Ever. And he was not quite sure on _why_ he was smiling in the first place.

Was it the Old Man's wrinkles? Byakuya wouldn't be so vain, he'd seen wrinkles before.

The knowledge that the man was never going to die? Well, that was nice. But Byakuya didn't see how it concerned him.

Why did the geezer make him so happy?!

Yamamoto was a Man of History. And as all Men of History are, he was steadfast, sturdy, and strong. He was also very old. Which was a good thing in a place like Sereitai. He had seen the Kuchiki nobles beginning.

Which was why it was strange that he was so interested in this Kuchiki Byakuya. He was really just another noble. Not too interesting, at all. Except that he was.

Huh.

Strange that he would be so fond of a boy who barely uttered three words at a time.

Had Kuchiki Byakuya ever actually had a conversation with him?

And why did he have to fight to say the man's proper given name?

Just WHAT was going on!?

Neither of the two men enjoyed confusion.

In Byakuya's case, it inhibited his thinking capacity and made him nervous. (His eye would twitch if not controlled properly.)

Yamamoto felt like he was to wise, and old, (but he viewed himself like a fine wine- he got better with age) to have to deal with something as adolescent as confusion. He was supposed to know things!

Both men came to the conclusion that they would have to face the other. In the hopes that they could fix their problem, of course. Not because they wanted to see the other man. Definitely not.

Yamamoto was surprised when Byakuya asked for an audience.

He wasn't trying to look his best that day. Oh, no. Definitely not. He didn't spend an extra two hours braiding his beard just to make sure it was straight. Nope, not Yamamoto.

Byakuya didn't spend an extra three hours making sure there was no frizz leaping out of his Kensieken, it was beneath him to be concerned about something as trivial and mundane as that. He didn't pick his best scarf out to impress anyone. He wouldn't do something so pointless. (Especially since all his scarves looked rather alike…) Nope, not Byakuya.

Both didn't even think about making sure their haories' were ironed crisply. Nope. Not starched at all.

Denial was not just a river in Egypt _that_ sunny Tuesday.

His footsteps made barely a sound as he shunpo'ed his way to the Soutaicho's headquarters. Arriving early was proper manners; it wasn't because he wanted extra time eyeing the giant picture of the Captain Commander on the wall. That excuse was low and common.

And Yamamoto was only early to make sure that his facilities were clean.

He wasn't in denial about that.

He liked clean, and if his guest was also very fastidious, then he would be more comfortable in a sparkling environment.

Wait. What?

Saskibe showed Byakuya into the room where Captain Commander Yamamoto sat enthroned.

And both men stared.

The unfortunate thing was that neither man knew how to start a conversation with the other. And Byakuya just didn't know how to start a conversation.

"Well," Yamamoto cleared his throat.

"Yes." Byakuya stated. "Well."

And they stared some more.

Byakuya tried to sum up what he wanted to say, stopped and tried again, after clearing his throat. "You are a remarkable man, Soutaicho."

"Thank you."

No wonder Byakuya liked to follow the rules. Yamamoto was the one who enforced them and Byakuya just couldn't let him down.


End file.
